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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25213291">The Catalyst</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athaerys/pseuds/Athaerys'>Athaerys</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Xenoblade Chronicles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Egil Lives AU, First Kiss, M/M, Post-Canon, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 11:34:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,662</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25213291</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athaerys/pseuds/Athaerys</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Atoning for the damage Egil caused during the war between gods</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Egil &amp; Shulk, Egil/Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Catalyst</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/MachineryField/gifts">MachineryField</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I couldnt help myself, so happy early birthday HanaHimus! I hope you enjoy this Shegil fic &lt;33<br/>Youre a great friend and Im so glad to have met you in the xbc1 server</p>
<p>Title is from a song called The Catalyst from Linkin Park. I was listening to it on repeat while writing this, and I also just think it fits Egil as a character really well</p>
<p>Im also sorry if there are major tone issues or Egil being out of character, also formatting might be a bit weird but eh sometimes it be like that</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was soon after the rebirth of the universe, and everyone was getting back on their feet in the new Colony 9. Due to the destruction of Mechonis and the loss of his lab in Agniratha, Egil and Shulk had to share a lab but both had put their differences aside soon after there was peace. Egil took a small bit longer to open up than Shulk, but afterwards they decided to dedicate their time towards making everyone else’s lives easier. It was the least they could do for the atrocities committed by Egil. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Even though the Machina were more technologically advanced than the Homs, that didn’t stop both Egil and Shulk learning new engineering techniques and habits from one another. Egil always had a tendency to over-complicate machines while Shulk focuses on functionality, so in some weird way they balanced eachother out. Shulk makes sure the machine does it’s base function efficiently, while Egil makes sure it actually looks good. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The two of them quickly fell into a groove when working together, allowing them to achieve more together than what they did alone. Shulk spent much of his time researching the Mechon and how they worked, while Egil spent time optimising the technology used by the other races.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>However, even though both worked hard with the restoration of Alcamoth and the settlement of the Machina into the colonies, Egil wasn’t trusted. Understandably so, he mutilated beings of the Bionis to do his bidding and his lust for revenge against Zanza took over. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Most who pass by him either try to avoid being near him entirely or openly glare at him. The majority of those who distrusted Egil were the Homs and the Machina, while the High Entia and Nopon were wary of him at best. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The only person who trusted Egil was Shulk. Many had tried to convince Shulk not to work with him, as he could easily desecrate Shulk as he did the other homs. Shulk however, never listened, as he believed Egil truly wanted to change and be a better person. That Egil </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> a better person. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>No one truly understood why Shulk was so trusting of Egil, until the day a rogue mechon attacked the colony.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>---------</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Before Egil spent a majority of his time working on improving the lives of the colonists, he vowed to take care of every mechon that wasn’t under his direct control. It didn’t matter if it was a simple repurpose, or annihilation of the crazed machine, every single unique mechon would be under his supervision.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Luckily, Shulk kept a list of every unique enemy he fought along his journey, so it was easy for Egil to cross-reference each mechon in that list to the records in his databank. It seemed that Shulk and his party took care of almost all the unique mechon Egil had sent out around the Mechonis, which made his life much easier. Only around three were left for Egil to take care of.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After exterminating the remaining three, the thought of mechon not under his control was just simply not possible to Egil. Afterall, he trusted Shulk’s ability to keep an organised log of everything killed. That, and Egil’s near perfect memory of all that were constructed in the first place. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Surely it would be the last time Egil would have to worry about the unique machines he created. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>------</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Both Egil and Shulk were out around the colony doing some maintenance on a couple busted ether lights when the sirens went off. After sounding the sirens, Colonel Vangarre quickly announced over the colony’s PA system that it was a singular mechon currently attacking the residential district. He then advised all those in the nearby area should evacuate to the military district while the defense force handles the situation.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Shulk, already in the residential district, immediately started running towards the threat, thinking he could easily stop a single mechon before it caused major harm. It wasn’t until Shulk arrived to where the mechon was currently attacking the fencing of a house did he realise a problem. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t have a sword. Or any weapon for that matter. There wasn’t any time to go to the military district to grab his weapon either. Soon after he realised his grievous error, the Mechon had already noticed Shulk and was advancing towards the defenseless homs. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>------</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>By the time Egil arrived at where the mechon was attacking, a small crowd was beginning to form outside of danger. Due to the distance, he couldn’t see clearly which mechon was attacking and who was in danger. However, as soon as people started to notice Egil, they started to part to allow him through. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Once past the crowd, he could clearly see the rampaging mechon approaching Shulk, who had just been knocked over by a blunt attack from it’s claw. When he saw Shulk, his heart stopped and he started sprinting towards the two of them.  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Defective Ipos?! I thought I deactivated this Mechon a year ago when it refused to work! And how did it survive the fall off of Sword Valley?” Egil didn’t have much time to ponder over why the mechon had somehow reactivated and survived the fall when the Mechonis sword moved. He had to get to Shulk, and quickly. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He ran almost purely on instinct towards the mechon, his mind focused on protecting Shulk. On protecting the only person other than his sister who believed he was a changed person, the person who accepted Egil almost immediately after the events at the Mechonis Core, the person Egil had come to love. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The deranged mechon was just about to hit Shulk, who was on the ground paralysed in fear, when Egil jumped in between the two and took the blunt of the attack, keeling over Shulk in pain. Immediately after, Egil turned around and used his long nails to pierce the mechon’s armour. He reached in and tore the processing and energy unit straight out, effectively killing the mechon in one shot.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With no power and no processor, Defective Ipos collapsed on the ground and deactivated. It was leaking ether that he would have to clean up later, but that didn’t matter to Egil at the moment. All that mattered was Shulk, and if he was ok.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Shulk?! Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?!” Egil didn’t let Shulk answer his questions before frantically starting to check over the blond homs for any wounds, all the while still on top of him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Shulk gently pushed Egil off of him before replying, “Egil, I am fine. The mechon didn’t hurt me other than a few scrapes from knocking me down. But more importantly, are you ok? You took a direct stab into the back to shield me.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span> Hearing that Shulk was mostly unharmed calmed Egil down slightly, “I’ll live. It didn’t hit any vital organs if that was what you were wondering. I only have to replace some of my back armour.” Egil responded in a calm fashion before staring at Shulk with pure worry on his face. “I’d much rather focus on you currently. Don’t you dare do something as reckless as that again, I don’t know what I would do without you. ”</span><span></span><br/>
<span><br/>
</span> <span>“I’m </span><em><span>okay</span></em><span>, please stop worrying. I’m sorry for scaring you though I’ve never seen you so worried over something before. Is everything alright?”</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At that mention, Egil suddenly became a lot more reserved, looking at everything but Shulk. “Yes, well I uh..”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Egil, you can talk to me. What’s wrong? I want to know why you're worrying over me more so than usual.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Instead of responding to Shulk’s question, Egil thought it would be best to show why he was acting unusually protective. He carefully cupped Shulk’s face, and before Shulk knew what Egil was doing, Egil was kissing him.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Neither quite knew what they were doing, as Shulk was always oblivious to others' emotions and Egil shut everyone out of his life for hundreds of years. But that didn’t stop Egil from trying to express just how much he cares for Shulk in that current moment, and how worried he was over the fact Shulk almost got majorly hurt.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Soon after, their lips parted as Shulk needed air, but that didn’t stop Egil from quickly grabbing him and pulling them into a hug. Shulk was the first to speak afterwards, quietly so only Egil would hear him, “Thank you, I would have never worked up the courage to do that myself.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Egil, startled at Shulk’s admittance, pulled away from the homs just enough to see his face. “Are you saying…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I feel the same way. I just never knew how to say it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you Shulk. You do not realise just how much hearing that from you means to me.” Egil said with a smile that hasn’t been on his face in over a hundred years. “We shall talk more about this another time. But for now, we should probably help clean up the mechon that’s currently leaking ether all over.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The two of them, with the colonist’s help in cleaning up the rubble, cleaned the area of the residential district that was attacked. Thankfully, Egil managed to kill the mechon before it could do any major damage to the colony, so cleanup didn’t take long. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>-------</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After Egil’s show of courage in saving Shulk from the rampaging Defective Ipos, many of the colonists began to see that they were wrong about him. Many started treating Egil kinder after the incident, some even went out of their way to come up to him and directly apologise for their behaviour. Of course, some still were wary of Egil. What he did was not something that can be easily forgiven. Some never truly moved on, but it was better than before.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As for Shulk and Egil themselves, the two of them were almost inseparable and it was known throughout the colony that if you can see one, the other wasn’t far behind.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As always, any feedback/comments are appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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